Surmountable challenges in making e-textiles
December 1st, 2024
Tapis Magique, a pressure-sensitive e-textile carpet, developed by Irmandy Wicaksono with Don Derek Haddad and Joseph A. Paradiso. The carpet generates 3D sensor data based on the user’s movements. Image: Irmandy Wicaksono According to a Business Research Insights market report, the smart fabric segment of the textile industry is poised to grow from $4.19 billion […]
Companies partner to make smart health wearables
December 1st, 2024
An automated sewing line at the MAKALOT flagship factory. Taiwanese companies SINBON and MAKALOT are partnering in smart textile health and fitness wearables. Image: MAKALOT Industrial Co. Ltd. Taiwanese companies SINBON and MAKALOT are partnering in smart textile health and fitness wearables that could also incorporate artificial intelligence (AI). SINBON creates electronic components for medical, […]
Research into molecular electronics
December 1st, 2024
An artistic representation of a ladder molecule acting as a component in molecular electronics. Image: The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have taken a step toward ever-smaller devices with their work in the field of molecular electronics. Molecular electronics is the use of […]
Desktop biofiber spinner enables fast prototyping
October 1st, 2024
University of Colorado Boulder researchers developed a low-cost desktop machine (bottom) for spinning biofibers used in smart textile prototypes. The moisture sensor (center) included cotton, silver and gelatin fibers that were easily reclaimed for further trials. Though they used gelatin (top), the machine could be used to investigate other biopolymers. Images: Utility Research Lab By […]
FibeRobo actuating fibers respond to heating and cooling
September 1st, 2024
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers used an industrial knitting machine to create a compression jacket for lead author Jack Forman’s dog (a), whose name is Professor. The jacket “hugs” a stuffed replica dog (b–c) based on a Bluetooth® signal from Forman’s smartphone. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Northeastern University have […]
Thermal control in wearable technology
August 1st, 2024
The textile-heated garment industry is revolutionizing how we stay warm. Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA), the organization I work for, is at the forefront of developments in the types of heat sources used, particularly how they are controlled for optimal comfort and efficiency. Disposable hand warmers, popular for their immediate heat via the exothermic […]
Deaf patrons feel opera productiions via haptic SoundShirt
July 1st, 2024
The SoundShirt software was refined at the Lyric Opera of Chicago during the 2022–23 season, which featured test audiences. This past season the theater made 10 shirts available for select performances of each opera. Increasing numbers of the shirts were used during each performance. Images: Lyric Opera of Chicago Haptic feedback given through a light […]
Printed, flexible electionics for e-textiles
June 1st, 2024
Printed Electronics Ltd.‘s graphene flagship demonstrator, which is a sports shirt using graphene dry electrodes for ECG monitoring. It was displayed at the 2024 Large-Area, Organic & Printed Electronics Convention. Image: Marie O’Mahony Can printed electronics (PE) and flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) offer to e-textiles a means to overcome the design, manufacturing and sustainability challenges […]
Fibers with sensors help study the brain-gut connection
May 1st, 2024
These flexible fibers, which are embedded with sensors and light sources, can be used to manipulate and monitor the connections between the brain and the digestive tract. Image: MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers have designed a new means for probing the connections between the brain and the digestive tract, using fibers embedded with […]
Smart fabrics testing and standards under development
March 1st, 2024
A glove made on a Shima Seiki SWGN knitting machine on display at Advanced Textiles Expo 2023 in Orlando, Fla. The SWGN machine created the glove in 19 minutes at a speed of 1 meter (3.3 feet) per second, including a conductive yarn knit in the first two fingertips to allow the user to operate […]